King’s College, the British School of Alicante has been presented the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Inclusion Award (SENDIA), an internationally renowned accolade that distinguishes outstanding SEND provision in schools. This is the first time that a British school outside of the UK has received this award.
“I am delighted that our staff and pupils have achieved this wonderful accolade in recognition of the outstanding care and attention shown to all our pupils to meet their individual learning needs. I am also delighted that we are the first school outside of the UK to achieve this award, demonstrating our vision ‘to be at the forefront of British education internationally’”, said Derek Laidlaw, headteacher at King’s College Alicante.
“The lead team of Mrs Compton, Mrs Conomos, Mr Escott and Sra Rodriguez deserve enormous credit for leading this initiative so successfully, helping the school to become fully inclusive in our learning provision for all abilities and needs at all ages”, added Mr Laidlaw.
The award was presented to the school after a thorough inspection of its SEND provisions and several interviews with parents and pupils.
The lead verifier from Optimus Education commented
“The school is an effective learning environment, in all classes the pupils are focussed on their learning. Pupils are proud of their school and those interviewed all had aspirations. Because of this, pupils are not afraid to make mistakes and know they are in a supportive learning environment.
Clear differentiation is evident in lessons and the school has worked effectively to ensure all staff has a clear understanding of their responsibility for all pupils to achieve well and access the curriculum”.
Parents interviewed as part of the verification process commented that the information provided by the school in terms of their children’s progress is very clear and that they feel they have a voice in school and that their opinions are valued. Additionally, pupils who were interviewed by the verifier commented that they felt the staff genuinely cared about helping them progress in their work, that learning is fun and that the teachers really want pupils to reach their potential